Valve has decided to cancel the MRQs used for selecting competing teams at its next major CS2 tournament, and will instead use VRS as a direct method for inviting competing teams.
News broke in 2024 that Valve was moving from its RMR system and that qualifying for majors would change fundamentally in 2025. Valve also planned an expansion for the 2025 majors by increasing the team count at each such event from 24 sides to 32. Fans were excited about the second change as more teams meant a longer duration for the majors and more games to watch.
BLAST Austin Major was the first 2025 CS2 tournament to feature the expanded team format and the new qualifying method, which began in January 2025. Valve has now announced that the MRQs will be canceled altogether after the Austin Major ends. This change is being implemented prior to the StarLadder Budapest Major as Valve aims to “standardize the events.”
Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQ) for the Budapest Major have officially been canceled as all 32 teams will receive direct invitations to the next CS2 Major based on Valve Regional Standings (VRS).
The MRQs were introduced as the new major qualifiers and replaced RMRs at the start of 2025. MRQs are unique in that they could be held online, which was the case for qualifiers leading up to the Austin Major. The MRQs for Budapest Major were scheduled to be held between October 16-19. These dates caused a conflict with multiple other big tournaments, including the CS Asia Championships, Thunderpick World Championship, MESA Nomadic Masters Fall, and Roobet Cup, all of which were slated to fall during the same time period.
Switching to VRS allows Valve to further unify its qualification methods while removing another event from what’s already a crowded CS2 tournament schedule.
On June 11, Valve announced that MRQs would be canceled and the 32 teams would receive direct invites using VRS. The developer stated that having a different qualifier for CS2 majors isn’t ideal, and expressed that tournament schedules will become more consistent with this latest change. The invite date for the Budapest Major remains unchanged and is set for October 8.
CS2 players have criticized VRS and claimed it limits new players from being able to qualify for the biggest Counter-Strike 2 tournaments of the year in favor of more experienced and established teams and players. Some have gone as far as to predict that the tournaments will get stale for viewers if this format is kept up, as fans will continue to see the same teams compete each time. Most still believe that Valve’s intentions are good, but some argue that new teams will now struggle, which will ultimately be a loss for fans.
Time will tell how Valve’s usage of VRS changes CS2 majors and whether or not it’s for the better.
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